When you are motorbiking in Vietnam, the police will pay attention to 4 main things: drivers license, speed, red lights, and less commonly with foriegners but still something to be aware of, drunk driving.
Speed Limits and Red Lights
Since 1st Jan 2025, the fines for driving infractions have increased significantly with speeding fines up to 7mil vnd ($275) and running a red light is 5mil vnd ($200). Many of the larger roads, cities, or even towns now have speed cameras, and cameras at the red lights to catch the infractions. Since 2025, the rural areas have speed camera so that you will not know where you can be caught. These are not typically charged on the spot but the fine is sent in the post so you will not always know when you have been caught.
There is also still police check points that will be checking the speed which can charge you on the spot for a speeding fine.
Vietnam has 2 different speed limits which are classed as inside and outside of the city / town. You will see road signs to show you when you are entering and exiting cities / towns as shown below.
Inside the city the speed limit is 40km/hr and outside the city it is 60km/hr unless otherwises displayed.
Expressways
There are expressways (highways / motorways) called CT roads which motorbikes are not allowed on. The entrance to these will be signposted with a no motorbike sign but also Google maps will know these and that motorbikes are not allowed on them.
Most people have the option on Google maps to follow the motorbike option as shown below. But if you do not have this option then you can section, route options, no highways.
If you follow either of these options then Google maps will not take you on roads you are not allowed on and you can trust that this will be correct.
Drivers License
The drivers license required in Vietnam should be the 1968 International Drivers Permit, IDP, with motorbike stamp or a local Vietnamese drivers license.
Unless you have more than a 3 month visa then converting your own license to a Vietnamese drivers license is not an option. But the largest longest tourist visa you can get in Vietnam is a 3 month visa meaning that converting a license is not an option for most people.
Getting a 1968 International Drivers Permit with motorbike stamp is something that you need to do before you come to Vietnam. These are obtained in your own country and are based on your domestic drivers license.
You should have a motorbike license to get a stamp on the correct sections although each country has a different way of stamping but you are required to have a stamp on each A or A1 to ride a motorbike in Vietnam.
The difference between the 1949 and 1968 IDP is 2 different conventions which countries could of signed upto. Vietnam only signed upto the 1968 convention meaning you need this IDP. Unfortunately many countries including Australia, American, Canada, Spain as well as others have only signed the 1949 convention. This means you are not able to get the correct license for Vietnam.
The most important aspect of this is that you check that your insurance will still cover you with the license you are able to get. Some insurers in Australia will cover you so long as you have the Australian license whilst the Canadian IDP lists Vietnam as an accepted country meaning that the insurers will accept this.
What happens if you have the 1949 IDP
For most of the country they you will not be checked for the IDP and even if you are checked the 1949 IDP will be fine. But in Ha Giang you will be checked and the police are aware of the different licenses. You can see more about this before.
Alcohol Driving Limit
Vietnam has a zero alcohol limit for driving, meaning that even one beer is over the limit. Although outside the cities these checks are rare they do still happen and they happen alot in the big cities and most traffic police have a breathalyzer to check.
If you are checked and fail then the bike is confiscated for a number of days and you will be fined. The number of days and the fine are down to how much over the limit you are, with the fines being in the millions, commonly being 5mil ($200).
Ha Giang
In Ha Giang there are police check points for the drivers license. Since becoming a common route for tourist whilst in Vietnam the police in the region has been checking that drivers have the correct license. If you have the 1968 IDP with the motorbike stamp or a Vietnamese drivers license then the police will check and let you go very quickly. If you do not have a license or you have the wrong IDP then they will fine you for this, usally between 2mil – 5mil ($80 – $200) depending on the cc of the bike.
If you want more details about this or to ensure that your license is the correct one then please message us and we will check for you.
Mui Ne
In Mui Ne many people are stopped for speeding. This is due to some sections of road in and around Mui Ne are technically still in the city so have the lower 40km/hr limit but the road and area is empty making people think that the speed limit will be the higher 60km/hr limit.
In this section the police are very active and will be also checking the drivers license, red lights or any other infraction. For this reason to recommend customers are caution in Mui Ne and stick to the 40km/hr speed limit unless they are sure that it is higher.